Jean Fritz is the queen of historical biography (Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George?
Jean was born in China, the daughter of a missionary. Although China is the only home she’s ever known, Jean very much considers herself an American. Her experiences in China are fascinating, as she lived there during the 1920s when there were considerable struggles for power.
Fritz’s ability to capture her own childhood thoughts is another reason that Homesick is a standout memoir. Clearly a perceptive child, Jean distrusts her parents’ advice “When in Rome…” because she believes their missionary actions contradict their expectations of her. Major points to Jean here for acknowledging that the goal of missionaries is to impose their beliefs on others. Jean is also constantly processing the idea of being good. She is always told to be good and would much rather just be herself and have that be good enough. Her observations throughout range from heartbreaking to hilarious.
Homesick does deal in some difficult issues. Jean’s mother gives birth to a baby girl who only lives a short time and Jean must cope with this loss without much guidance from her mother. China is going through difficult times and there is violence in her area, often directed towards foreigners. There are issues of race and class mentioned throughout, and while sometimes Jean’s childhood observations are very apt and sufficient for understanding the issues, there are times when clarification about the situation in China and racism could use further examination. I would recommend this book for fourth grade an up provided that someone was on hand to discuss the harder issues.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Jean’s mother said that her teacher Miss Williams might have come to China to catch a husband. A friend tells her to ask her mother where babies come from (the answer is NOT in the book). A Chinese woman’s husband takes a second wife, so she leaves him. Very little Chinese boys go around with nothing on the bottom half on their bodies. A family she knows often walks about the house with no clothes on as though it is not a big deal. Jean’s mother has a baby and she is put out that her family didn’t tell her before the baby arrived and that she didn’t notice what was happening under her mother’s loose dresses. Towards the end Jean’s friend Andrea is interested in romantic songs and movies and boys. Jean meets a boy and he’s nice to her and she mentions she thinks she’s in love.
Profanity – “bloody,” Jean says all the swear words she knows in Chinese (we’re not told any of these). “Shut up,” Upon returning to America, Jean hears people say “Chinamen” and “Chinks”. She immediately tells them this is unacceptable.
Death, Violence and Gore – Women beg the River God to return drowned family members. A Russian girl’s family ran away so they would not be killed in the Revolution. A classmate steps on Jean’s foot intentionally and twists her arm behind her back. Some Chinese women have bound feet. Beggars have sores on their bodies and “mangled faces”. The Americans have gunboats in the Yangtze river. There is a revolution going on and there are riots which must be put down with tear gas. A woman howls for money to bury her dead baby. Her mother goes to the hospital with blood clots in her legs and must stay there for quite awhile after Jean’s sister is born. Jean’s baby sister dies before she ever comes home from the hospital. This is a very important part of the story and might be very sad or scary for some readers. Some readers who have lost a younger sibling may connect with Jean’s feelings. Jean’s father helps set up a hospital for the sick and wounded. Jean and her family are surrounded by a mob and a man with a knife orders them to pay more for the coolie’s services than ever before. Her father pays more than they are asked and wants to leave. All of the coolies pull knives and threaten to kill them if they call for help. She worries that one of their servants is trying to poison her family. Her father tells of the rotting dead bodies in the streets being taken away in wheelbarrows. A servant’s brother is killed by a shell. Her father tells her about men who cut off the heads of their enemies and stick them on poles. Her father worries about the murder of British and Americans staying in China.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A man smokes a cigarette. Jean mentions that when returning to the US her bags are checked to make sure they’re not smuggling opium.
Frightening or Intense Things – Jean worries about the hard life led by the coolies, particularly rickshaw coolies who often don’t live past 30. The woman who takes care of Jean goes to visit her family and her father will not let her in to see her sick mother. Jean’s father doesn’t evacuate until later, and she and her mother anxiously wait in Shanghai. Her father drives across a condemned bridge.
Adoption Issues: A friend of Jean’s has an adopted brother. His parents love him the same as their other children, but he feels different sometimes and wonders about his birth parents. His parents don’t want him to talk about it, but he does with his sister and Jean. He makes a plan to have someone steal his records from an orphanage. An orphan girl comes to spend Christmas with the family, but is very unhappy the whole time (understandably so).
